Department for Transport

Great British Railways: Staff

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many staff are expected to be located in the selected Great British Railways headquarters; and how many of the present Network Rail staff based in Milton Keynes working on (1) signalling, (2) timetabling, (3) maintenance and renewal, and (4) other areas, will be asked to move to the selected Great British Rail headquarters.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The national headquarters for Great British Railways will be home primarily to corporate functions and teams that will enable regional and devolved teams to operate efficiently and effectively.Further work is needed to establish the exact make-up and number of staff for the national headquarters. Centres of excellence, such as the Quadrant in Milton Keynes, will still be needed to help deliver the railway of the future.

High Speed 2 Line: Euston Station

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will (1) place in the Library of the House plans and other documentation demonstrating that the latest design for the HS2 tunnel approaches to Euston Station is within the limits of deviation specified in the High Speed Rail (London–West Midlands) Act 2017, or (2) set out how the changes to the design and the Environmental Statement are within the scope of the Act; and what plans they have to consult on these changes.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The latest design for works within Euston Approaches are within the limits of deviation specified in the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Act 2017. It should be noted that these designs are well developed, but not yet finalised in all areas. As the design of the Euston Tunnels is developed and finalised, HS2 Ltd will continue to check that it is compliant with the scope and requirements prescribed in the Act and the Environmental Statement. HS2 Ltd has engaged with affected parties in the development of the current design and will continue to do so through to delivery of the work.

Department of Health and Social Care

Social Services: Migrant Workers

Baroness Altmann: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many social care workers earning more than £20,480 they estimate will be recruited from overseas as a result of the new immigration visa rules; and what proportion of staff vacancies are expected to be filled further to those rules.

Lord Kamall: No specific estimate has been made. However, we are working with Skills for Care and the Home Office to produce guidance and seminars to equip adult social care providers with necessary tools and information to recruit successfully from overseas.

Cheltenham General Hospital: Accident and Emergency Departments

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Cheltenham General Hospital about reinstating a full doctor-led 24/7 service at its Accident and Emergency department; and if there are plans to reinstate that service, what is the timetable for doing so.

Lord Kamall: There have been no specific discussions. Cheltenham General Hospital operates a consultant-led accident and emergency service between 8am and 8pm and a specialist nurse-led service between 8pm and 8am. This has been in place since 2013, following a public consultation and examination by the local Health Oversight Scrutiny Committee.

NHS: Incentives

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Kamall on 22 June (HL620), why the decision was made to remove central funding of the local clinical excellence awards scheme from 31 March; what assessment they have made of the impact this change will have on clinical academies; and why the planned amendment of Schedule 30 to include clinical academies within the group with a contractual entitlement to apply for such awards was abandoned.

Lord Kamall: From 2018 to March 2022, the Department was involved in tripartite negotiations between employers, the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association to reform local clinical excellence awards. However, the proposal was rejected by the executive committees of the trades unions and the negotiations concluded without agreement.National Health Service trusts are therefore reverting to the arrangements in Schedule 30 of the consultant contract, agreed with the BMA in 2018. This does not alter the funding and eligibility position for clinical academics and represents a continuation of existing provisions.

Vaccination: Pupils

Lord Knight of Weymouth: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the coverage levels of school-based (1) tetanus, (2), diphtheria, (3) polio, and (4) COVID-19, vaccination programmes; and what steps they are taking to increase such coverage.

Lord Kamall: The combined tetanus, diphtheria and polio vaccine coverage in year nine cohorts in 2020 to 2021 was 76.4%, compared to 57.6% in 2019 to 2020 and 87.6% in 2018 to 2019. In addition, updated data for the year 10 cohort in the 2020 to 2021 academic year estimated coverage at 80.3%. This is a 22.7 % increase for the same cohort when in year nine in 2019 to 2020. No specific assessment has been made of COVID-19 vaccine uptake as it is not solely delivered in a school-based setting.To achieve high coverage, vaccinations programmes are co-ordinated nationally, using highly trained staff with improved access to vaccine information. A out-of-school offer is in place to enable eligible children and young people to receive their COVID-19 vaccination at the nearest available vaccination centre. All providers continue to work with NHS England and NHS Improvement, with clinical advice from the UK Health Security Agency, to deliver all missed school-aged vaccinations.  National Health Service school-aged immunisation providers are now resuming educational activities, such as school assemblies, to educate students of the benefits of routine NHS immunisation programmes.

Ministry of Justice

Disability: Equality

Baroness Deech: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks byBaroness Stedman-Scott on 21 June (HL Deb col 56GC), when they plan to consult on the feasibility of a pilot scheme testing the (1) advantages, and (2) disadvantages, of extending cost protection to disability claims.

Lord Bellamy: The Government is continuing to consider the possibility of consulting on a pilot scheme examining the advantages and disadvantages of extending costs protections to disability claims. This is an important issue that requires careful consideration, and we will set out the way forward in the coming months.

Matrimonial Property

Baroness Deech: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to implement the recommendation included in the Law Commission reportMatrimonial Property, Needs and Agreements, published in 2014, that "qualifying nuptial agreements should be introduced by legislation"; and whether they plan to introduce the Draft Nuptial Agreements Bill included in that report.

Lord Bellamy: We are taking forward our commitment to review the legislation surrounding financial provision following divorce. Nuptial agreements are one element of this and any decision to introduce new legislation, including the draft Bill provided by the Law Commission in 2014, will be considered against the context of the wider review.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Fisheries

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that the UK enforces fishing access rights in its waters.

Lord Benyon: All vessels fishing in UK waters must have a licence issued by the relevant UK licensing authority and must comply with the relevant legislation. The Marine Management Organisation monitors fishing activity in English waters and carries out dedicated enforcement and surveillance activity, including through the use of offshore patrol vessels for at-sea surveillance. Where vessels do not comply with these rules, enforcement action can be taken against them.

Fishing Catches: Software

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the effectiveness of the fishing catch recording service.

Lord Benyon: Fisheries is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. Defra works closely with the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) who manage the fishing catch recording service widely known as the ‘Catch App’. The Catch App is used to gather catch information for under 10m fishing vessels which make up approximately 80% of the English fleet. At present, Catch App compliance by fishermen is at its highest level since its introduction and now sits at 89% across England. Building on this high level of compliance, the Government is now working on three key steps to ensure the effectiveness of the Catch App. These are “review, engage and enforce”. Firstly, the MMO reviews the implementation of the Catch App through direct feedback from fishermen and via Marine Officers who engage in dockside visits with fishermen. The MMO uses these inputs to inform on any improvements required to the app functionality in order to increase the benefit to fishermen. Secondly, the MMO engages with fishermen to familiarise themselves with the way the Catch App works, increase their ability to enter accurate data, comply with the requirements and use the functionality of the app for their own benefit. Thirdly, in 2022 after over two years of review and engagement, the MMO has moved to a phase of enforcing the licence condition requiring fishermen to use the Catch App to ensure that fishermen submit records for each trip. The Catch App ensures the MMO has a more comprehensive picture of catches from English waters than ever before. This data informs fisheries management, improves traceability, and helps inform decisions on marine developments where previously the inshore fleet did not have data to support their views.

Fishing Catches

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty's Government what incentives they are providing to the fishing industry in order to reduce discards.

Lord Benyon: The UK Government is committed to ending the wasteful practice of discarding. Fisheries is a devolved matter, but we seek to work collaboratively with the Devolved Administrations to achieve the best outcomes for the UK as a whole. On 27 June 2022, we launched a consultation on managing quota in 2023 and beyond. This includes options for using quota to incentivise better behaviours. Reducing discards could form part of this. Alongside this, we are speaking with industry and other stakeholders about discards reform. This includes consideration of incentives. We will run a formal consultation later in the year.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Housing: Disability

Baroness Deech: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks byBaroness Stedman-Scott on 21 June (HL Deb col 56GC), when they plan to implement the findings of the research they have carried out on Part M of the building regulations.

Lord Harrington of Watford: As set out by Baroness Stedman-Scott, Government is conducting research as part of a full review of Part M. The research is still ongoing and once completed will help government consider, in due course, changes to statutory guidance to the building regulations covering access to and use of buildings.

Private Rented Housing: Students

Lord Truscott: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the proposals in the Renters Reform Bill on the availability and supply of student accommodation in the private rented sector.

Lord Harrington of Watford: The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has used consultation feedback and extensive stakeholder engagement to understand the impact of proposals of the Renters Reform Bill on the availability and supply of student accommodation in the private rented sector.The proposed reforms will support student households who have children or local roots to remain in their properties after studying if they wish to, whilst students living in privately-run purpose-built student accommodation will be governed by the same rules as those in university-owned accommodation, given the specific purpose of this housing.We will continue to consider the impact of our reforms as we move towards legislation and will publish a full impact assessment in due course.

Private Rented Housing

Lord Truscott: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the supply of accommodation in the private rented sector; and in particular, of the effect of ultra-short term lets on the availability of longer-term rental tenancies.

Lord Harrington of Watford: Our key indicator on the size of the private rented sector is the English Housing Survey. The most recent headline report states that in 2020-21, the private rented sector accounted for 4.4 million or 19% of households in England, unchanged from 2019-20, but lower than in 2015-16 (20%). Renting is more prevalent in London where 27% of households lived in the private rented sector in 2020-21 (compared to 17% of households in the rest of England).The sharing economy has brought many benefits to the tourism sector and wider economy, as well as creating an additional income stream for homeowners. However, we recognise that the increase in short-term letting has also prompted some concerns. These include the impact on the housing market and local communities, and a sense that new entrants in the market are not being held to the same health and safety standards as, for example, hotels and B&Bs.   The Government committed in the Tourism Recovery Plan published in June last year to consult on a possible Short Term Accommodation Registration Scheme in England. A call for evidence as the first stage of that consultation process was published on 29 June and runs until 21 September.   We want to hear from a wide range of stakeholders, including local authorities, in order to build a much-needed evidence base on these issues and enable us to develop proportionate policy responses. We ideally want to strike a balance between the benefits of the sharing economy and the concerns of the impacts on some communities, alongside ensuring consistency in quality among the range of different tourism accommodation providers.

Housing: Disability

Baroness Deech: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks byBaroness Stedman-Scott on 21 June (HL Deb col 52GC), when they will introduce the standards and a regulatory framework to deliver accessible new homes.

Lord Harrington of Watford: As set out by Baroness Stedman-Scott, Government has consulted on options to raise the accessibility of new homes and we have been considering all responses and evidence to inform how we can best improve standards. We will be setting out our plans in a government response to the consultation in due course.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Motor Sports: Racial Discrimination

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take, alongside sporting bodies and associations, to address racism in motorsport.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: Racism has no place in society. Her Majesty’s Government is committed to working with our arm’s length bodies, sporting bodies and sector partners to ensure sport does all it can to tackle racism and all forms of discrimination.We were extremely dismayed to hear about the recent racist remarks made about Sir Lewis Hamilton but commend Formula 1’s zero-tolerance approach to harassment and discrimination. Alongside work under Formula 1’s anti-racist platform We Race As One, their swift condemnation of Nelson Piquet’s racist remarks has led to their decision to implement a life-time ban on his attendance at races. In addition, the British Racing Drivers’ Club has suspended Mr Piquet as a member, citing its zero-tolerance policy toward racism and stating it expects formally to terminate his membership at a board meeting to be held within seven days.Last year we also welcomed the work of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Sir Lewis Hamilton which is aimed at improving the representation of Black people in UK motor sport. However there is still more to do, and we will continue to work across Her Majesty’s Government and with sector partners to ensure that inequalities people from ethnically diverse backgrounds face in sport, including motorsports, are being tackled effectively.